MBA defense rises to occasion

Father Ryan may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time Friday night.

Montgomery Bell Academy, still stinging from last week’s 26-14 homefield loss to Battle Ground Academy, came into its matchup with the Irish looking to prove a point.

“That wasn’t us last week,” senior tailback/linebacker Fitz Lassing said after the Big Red won its third game in four weeks and improved to 5-3 with its 7-3 win over its longtime rival.

A week after allowing 467 offensive yards — including 279 on the ground — MBA shored things up considerably against a Ryan squad that had won five straight since losing a 21-20 nailbiter in its season opener to Overton.

Ryan managed just 225 total yards in the loss, rushing for 97 yards on 35 attempts (2.8/carry).

“We’ve had some adversity, some injuries,” Lassing said, referring to linebacker Tee Griscom and defensive tackle Andrei Lucaci as well as quarterback Luke Colbert — all lost for the season by the end of the Big Red’s third game, a 50-21 beatdown at the hands of Ensworth.

Still, Lassing knew what he and his mates had to do Friday night.

“We had to be physical,” he said. “We had to look them in the eye and go right at them.”